MY BEST FRIEND IS A SECRET AGENT, Book 3: How C.H.I.P. Took on C.H.I.M.P. and...

Chapter 11: "I Resort to Begging"

I jumped on my bike and headed straight for Gert von Brugen's house.

To get the C.H.I.P. 1.0 back, I decided to appeal to her sense of honor and fairness. I know what you're thinking - Gert von Brugen is honorable? Gert von Brugen is fair? She's been a cheater and a liar her whole life, starting when she smashed my sandcastle back in kindergarten because it had more turrets than hers! But Gert was playing with some very sophisticated technology and taking a big chance by using it on a chimpanzee. I didn't want to be held responsible if things got out of hand.

I had Chip meet me at Gert's house. I figured, if she said no to me, it would be a lot harder for her to say no to Chip since he was just so goofy and harmless. Unless she had chocolate chip cookies. Then we'd be back to square one.

I knocked on the door and got no answer. But I could see movement inside, behind the curtains, so I knocked again. Still nothing. Finally, I called out, "Gert, I know you're in there! Come out with the chimp's collar, and no one gets hurt!" Okay, I had to work on my people skills, but I was desperate.

Finally, Gert cracked open the front door and stuck her head out. "Nort McKrakken, what do you want?" But before I could answer, she noticed Chip and smiled a bit. "Oh, hi Chip. What're you doing hanging around with this loser?"

"Can we see your monkey?" Chip asked excitedly. "I brought bananas!"

He did. He actually brought bananas.

"Gert," I said, "I know why your chimp is so smart and strong, but you don't know what you're dealing with. You have to give it back to me."

"Give what back?" she asked with a sneer.

"The... thing you found."

"The thing?"

"The... microthingy."

"Micro-what?"

"The microthingy you found in the cafeteria that doesn't belong to you and you shouldn't have it and you have no idea what it's capable of!"

But Gert wouldn't give up. "You have some gall! Coming here to accuse me of stealing the technology that I invented to make my chimp a superstrong supergenious?!"

"You didn't invent it!" I cried.

"Then who did?!" she demanded.

"I... uh... I... know who did. And it's not you!" I was eager to tell her (and the world!) that I invented the C.H.I.P. But if I did that, I'd be admitting that I was the mastermind behind C.H.I.P., the hero guy, and I still had to keep that a secret!

I didn't know what to do. Gert wasn't budging. I just stood there, exhausted from arguing - and from living off microthin pizza for the last three weeks. I was ready to turn and leave... but then I spotted something inside Gert's house. Behind her, in her front hallway, were those vines hanging from the ceiling? "Hey... what's going on in there?" I asked, trying to crane my neck for a better view.

"Nothing! Now, go away!" Gert snapped, slamming the door in our faces.

Feeling defeated, I walked off with Chip, my head hanging low. I hadn't gotten the C.H.I.P. microthingy back. All I could do was hope that my fears of certain disaster were overblown.

But, as we rode our bikes away from Gert von Brugen's house, just out of our view there was something long and green and BIG creeping out from her backyard...